Marvel Studios reportedly taps Cate Shortland as Black Widow director

After a long search, Marvel Studios has turned to the Australian director to helm their second female-led superhero film.

For years many fans have been clamoring for Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow to gain her own film within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That solo outing is closer than ever to debuting on the big screen.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, after a search that included over 70 candidates, Marvel Studios has settled on Austrailian director Cate Shortland to helm the Black Widow film. Shortland has the backing of Johannson who reportedly pushed for the director because of Shortland’s 2012 film Lore which follows a young woman leading her siblings through Germany as the Allied army arrives.

Johansson has been playing the role of Natasha Romanoff since Iron Man 2 which puts her debut in the MCU sooner than many of her male counterparts who in the time since then have had multiple films of their own. Reportedly the film will fill in some of Natasha’s backstory from the time before Avengers and her entry into the world of heroes, presumedly even flashes of her origins as a Russian spy and in the Red Room where she was trained.

This move follows with recent comments from Marvel President Kevin Feige that the studio was going to have more female directors and more female-led films following the upcoming end of phase three with Avengers 4 next year. Black Widow would be the second film to have a solo female hero after next March’s Captain Marvel, and third film to have a female hero in the title after this year’s Ant-Man and the Wasp gave Hope Van Dyne/The Wasp shared billing with Scott Lang/Ant-Man.